Day 1
With my fancies either running for the Summer Special or Festival Trends Guides I’ve asked my brother Gary to take a look at a few of the races at Goodwood today for those readers who are looking for a different angle. Regular readers will know that he’s not one to pick the easy races or the short priced favourites and it won’t come as a big surprise to see his runners lining up for the three big field handicaps at massive odds.
As with any selections given out on the blog, do what you like with them….Back them, Lay them or Ignore them!
2.10 Goodwood
In the 2.10 we again see a 16 runner handicap reduced to just 15 runners so we are only looking at 3 places for our each way wagers. Never mind because we intend to back the winner anyway! The one I’m looking to for that is Ramona Chase. A one time winner in a 30 race career doesn’t exactly read too well but amongst the form is some very good quality place runs. Two runs ago he was 2nd to Fiery Lad, last August he ran 3rd to Cill Rialaig (Royal Ascot winner this year) and if you go back far enough you’ll also see he ran 2nd to Conduit (multiple Group 1 winner) giving him 10lb! He’s now back to the same rating which saw him run that 2nd to Fiery Lad and from the bottom of the weights on a course he’s ran well at before 40/1 looks too big.
There are a number of horses running here that I have tipped at some point over the season, including Mark Johnston’s pair Tartun Gunna and Tartan Gigha, but the strongest form here is that of the likely favourite Australia Days who won the Summer hurdle at Market Rasen last Saturday week beating Gloucester by 19 lengths. The other I do like the look of is Gaily Noble and she would be my danger.
Selection: ROMONA CHASE 40/1
Danger: GAILY NOBLE
4.35 Goodwood
Next we look at the 4.35 a 1 mile handicap with 20 runners. Unfortunately I can’t go with my main choice here as he is drawn 6 which is a very poor draw over this course and distance. Huzzah would have been a very confident selection if he had been drawn in the high teens which is where my second choice is drawn. Coming out of stall 15 Hail Promenader looks to have a very decent chance of getting back to winning ways with Frankie in the saddle. He’s another who has only managed one career win but again has run some good races in defeat and you can forget his run last time out as he was forced to run wide throughout. He likes to race prominently (which is never a bad thing at Goodwood) and from his high draw should go well at a big price.
Other possibilities are Truism and Kay Gee Bee who I was very keen on a few weeks ago only for him to win next time out.
Selection: HAIL PROMENADER 25/1
Danger HUZZAH
5.40 Goodwood
The last race is the 5.40 a 1m6f handicap which sees my best bet of the day running. I tipped Becausewecan at Royal Ascot and although he didn’t run too well that day he certainly left that form behind when he was 5th over 2m at Ascot on Saturday. This drop back in trip is sure to suit and a front running Mark Johnston trained 20/1 shot looks far too good a bet to miss.
Possible dangers are Anhar for Frankie, last years runner up Precision Break and the gallant hurdler Sentry Duty.
Selection: BECAUSEWECAN 20/1
Danger PRECISION BREAK
Recommended Bet
Romona Chase 1pt ew 40/
Hail Promenader 1pt ew 25/1
Becausewecan 1pt ew 20/1
plus 0.25pt ew trixie (3 ew doubles and an ew treble) = 8pt staked
If those three do the business then I’m sure there’ll be a lot of bookmakers running for cover!
Good luck,
Gavin.